Securemod Awareness
I understand developers'es situation about script leaking and their right to protect their way of making income, however I think it's only fair for customers to fight for their rights too. I'm speaking of two disadvantages of scripts that are using securemod: the usual inability to edit serverside functions and, what is way more important, that the script will stop working if the developer will stop paying for their smod subscription. For example, Velkon's shadowban script which my server relays upon very much suddenly stopped working and I couldn't pinpoint as to why until noticed that it has securemod, then I had to ask directly of Meepen on Smod's official discord to understand what's happened. There are many scripts on gmodstore that aren't supported anymore and therefore they are removed from the market, however they can be downloaded still so those who paid for them can be assured that they at least can have the code and support it themselves. However in case of securemod, it's unsafe to buy these scripts because they can stop working at any moment. They could be removed from their customers without warning, how fair is it?
I think at the very least there should be two warnings on any script that uses securemod that:
- The customer won't have access to the full code
- The script can stop working at any moment if script dev decides so, and it won't be refunded in that case And there's still no guarantee that the script dev won't suddenly move their script to smod, like how it was with advanced medic mod.
Securemod protects scripts from leaks, but what will protect fair customers from scripts disabling?
You aren't entitled to be able to read the code when you buy a script
ByThreebowat 28th of February 2018 02:28:23
You aren't entitled to be able to read the code when you buy a script
But the script is useless when the developer stops paying for the drm subscription. So either the developer is locked into paying $15 every month forever, or customers get basically nothing for their money.
After talking with Velkon, he said he just doesn't want to pay the $15 every month when he's making no money off scripts anymore. He also stated he doesn't care as much as he used to about gmodstore, which is why there's no "drm free" version being added to his script versions. But his point of view is completely understandable.
I think a fair trade off is for securegmod to only cause "no subscription" errors if the script was downloaded after the author stopped paying the subscription. Otherwise, developers can leave a shit ton of customers in the dust with nothing to show for their money when they stop caring about gmodstore. Securegmod is great, and meep has done/continues to do a fantastic job maintaining it, but this sort of situation really gives drm a bad vibe.
I do agree with the current issue of developers just ending their support and having a script on total lockdown.
I think there should be something to make people release a non-drm version when they've decided to disable and never touch it again cause let's be honest you're not gonna give a shit about leaks when your script is disabled for good, cause you're making no money or anything off it.
But I also want to mention we should keep active scripts encrypted/whatever and protected, so all the anti-drm kids swarming pls leave.
The customer won't have access to the full code
most of you guys can't even read a readme.txt file so gl trying to read a .lua file
Bymoatat 28th of February 2018 03:19:10
eeeeeeee
I agree with that part. If a script doesn't work because of a DRM, it doesn't make it not work any less than if it were just a faulty script. Therefore, the same rules should be applied (the developer should provide a drm-free version if the version with drm does not work)
ByBunny of wisdomat 28th of February 2018 05:45:31
most of you guys can't even read a readme.txt file so gl trying to read a .lua file
Large part of Gmod's popularity - it's opensourced. You can literally rewrite game for your needs, the power of the community can't be understimated - Java, C#, and pascal still kicking thx to that. I suppose some content creators here started from code-reading workshop addons, I bought some addons from Gonzo to learn from his code, and I did. Speaking of which, the official statement about You-Know-Who's scripts removal was that it's hard to read that obusfucted code, yet his scripts although DRM-protected (the same way, part of the code stored somewhere), still working fine. Unlike those protected with Securemod - so it's question of management. Not to mention that due to some issues with free cloudflare, Securemod-protected scripts won't work on some russian hostings, annoucement was made on Securemod's discord.
I think it would be fair to mark every smod-protected script with appropriate warnings.
By#Attacheat 28th of February 2018 19:20:05
Not to mention that due to some issues with free cloudflare, Securemod-protected scripts won't work on some russian hostings, annoucement was made on Securemod's discord.
Well to be honest. The CloudFlare russia problem is really just because that Meep doesn't want to pay $500 a month. 
Edited 
Edited 
It's not a request for the removal of DRM, it's just a request for transparency so we know what we're getting into before we drop money on and build around a feature whose continued functionality depends on the developer's continual support of the addon.
Pretty sure most addons that use it list that in the description to avoid potential tickets.
ByThe Commanderat 28th of February 2018 20:22:43
Pretty sure most addons that use it list that in the description to avoid potential tickets.
Right now it only mentions that it has some anti-leak protection. But buyer should be aware before purchase that
- The script works only while dev pays for subscription
- Full code won't be provided
- It might not work on some hostings
Just like if you buy cigaretts there's warning about potential health risks.
lmao did he just compare smoking to using drm
if i buy something that uses an DRM and in the description is the information that it use an DRM then i can think about it that its maybe risky because any DRM can be offline in any Moment
the only problem is that if the Seller goes 'offline' and never come back so his DRM maybe offline soon at this time it is useless to force him to upload the DRM free version because if they exit Gmodstore they (mostly) dont give a fuck anymore :3
With there now being sites that are dedicated to just GMod leaks, it's been encouraging more people to use securegmod. While yes, it is annoying if a product doesn't work, I think it could best be sorted out by contacting the author directly. Creating a thread about it will only result in the author being contacted (at least, attempted), so why not just cut the extra and talk to the author directly?
If the author doesn't respond, I understand it. But in most cases, people just complain instead of looking for the easy solution.
Funny how VCMod doesn't get hated on for using DRM and its one of the most sold scripts.
idk how vcmod drm works tho
ByThe Commanderat 1st of March 2018 07:21:34
Funny how VCMod doesn't get hated on for using DRM and its one of the most sold scripts.
VCMod was built primarely to benefit people by auto updating. Only at later point I've decided to add DRM into it. But positives far outweight the negatives here. Not to mention all the extra stuff like whitelisted blocked copies, blacklisting servers, ability to even work from my phone on a gmod addon, all benefitting the buyers.
As for being able to check code. A bit contravercial, but I do agree that you are paying for a service, not to munch on its code. Even so, I give relivent parts of the code to anyone who asks or code in API for every request. So this can be a non-issue.
People are happy and even supported my DRM back when SE caused DRM hate was being thrown around.
But I won't lie, it did have issues. It gets ddosed every few days. And it some times took down the website when I've had crappy hosting and poor protection. It broke a few times due to SQL bloating, maintenance, Digital Ocean maintenance, etc.
All that happened within few years, however. Minor things, but still a problem. Clients, need to be warned about such possibilities.
I really think this should be in GMS rules to add a "This addon has an always-online DRM and needs constant internet connection" statement. And that people who drop support give a few months to acclimate first or push out a non-DRMed version. "ArcBank" is a good example.
ByBeastat 1st of March 2018 06:51:29If the author doesn't respond, I understand it. But in most cases, people just complain instead of looking for the easy solution.
Well of course I've written a request to Velkon which he has dutifully ignored for 3 days, as of now. And the same possibility applies to every script with Securemod's protection, hence the thread. The overall situation was discussed with Meepen through Securemod's discord, which concluded in request for possible solutions which I've been thinking about ever since.
The core of the problem is that the product which has been bought by a customer could be taken away without any reason. It could've been seen as if developer would delete their product from Gmodstore completely, only now it's technically impossible (afaik), suppose the developer would delete previous versions and upload empty zip, the script is disabled. Is it legal according to Gmodstore policies?
I've worried about this topic honestly a lot before purchasing add-ons on here. MCasino is a good example: https://www.gmodstore.com/scripts/view/5043/mcasino-the-ultimate-garrys-mod-casino
The addon looked incredible so I purchased it but after doing so I realized it was heavily heavily DRM'd. Which is perfectly fine I guess, it's completely within his right to do so especially since M4dhead has had issues in the past with hardcore leaks but I'm not gonna pretend I wasn't disappointed that I can't touch a single aspect of the code I'm purchasing or add any features without going through the process of contacting him. I really like M4dhead and his script but I feel like people need to be forced to be more transparent about this stuff because there really is no indication on his description and on some others that the script is so heavily DRM'd. Ontop of the fact you guys have all been mentioning that if his DRM ever stops working or he decides to not support it anymore I'm basically shit out of luck which I feel as a customer is kinda unfair. It's like if you bought a TV and used it for a year and then the manufacturer decided that they didn't wanna support it anymore and came and robbed my television.
Edit: Another thing I've been concerned about in general as well is that realistically I know you guys check every aspect of code that you allow to be sold on your platform but who's to say the guy in charge of said script, (not M4dhead; just generalizing) decides he is done with Gmodstore or he has a falling out with you guys that makes him turn into a raging asshole so he proceeds to update his script in a way that is destructive towards his customers servers. Obviously you guys don't have the means to check every single update everytime it's put up. But usually I try to visually scan my updated lua files to see if there's anything that would cause performance issues or if there are any backdoors present but if there is a DRM as heavy as the mCasino example I have no way of doing that besides removing the add-on entirely to see if it's the issue.
By[CC] Dannyat 2nd of March 2018 23:04:15It's like if you bought a TV and used it for a year and then the manufacturer decided that they didn't wanna support it anymore and came and robbed my television.
I couldn't agree more on that. I do think that script creators, just like billy did, should put in somewhere that the addon is DRM'd.